Test 3 Flashcards
Describe the four phases of a Comparison Question Test (CQT). Make sure you identify the purpose of each phase.
Phase 1: Pretest Interview. Examiner develops comparison questions; learns about the background of the suspect; and the suspect is questioned about the offence.
- Phase 2: CQT administration. Examiner asks questions while suspect’s physiological responses are recorded.
- Phase 3: CQT scoring. The charts (or test) are numerically scored and summed to give a total score. The
examiner looks at the difference between the physiological responses of the comparison and relevant
questions.
- Phase 4: Post-test Interview. The examiner explains the results of the test to the suspect and tells the suspect the outcome. The examiner attempts to get confession if test reveals that the suspect was
deceptive.
Provide four criticisms of the Comparison Question Test (CQT).
a. The CQT does not produce high levels of accuracy and is especially vulnerable to false-positive
errors (falsely classifying guilty suspects as innocent).
b. Results are inadmissible in Canadian courts of law.
c. The theoretical rationale for the test is weak (i.e., cannot distinguish deception from fear, arousal, and
other emotional states triggered in response to relevant and comparison questions).
d. One can use a variety of countermeasures to “beat” the polygraph test (e.g., biting tongue, counting
backwards).
e. Empirical findings on polygraph validity do not satisfy minimal standards of research quality.
Describe the Concealed Information Test (CIT), including its purpose and general form. Also provide several criticisms or limitations of the CIT and why it isn’t used as much as the CQT.
The CIT does not assess deception but instead seeks to determine whether the suspect knows
details about a crime that only the person who committed the crime would know. The general form of the CIT
is a series of questions in multiple-choice format. Each question has one correct option (often called the
critical option) and four options that are foils—alternatives that could fit the crime but that are incorrect. A
CIT question in the context of a homicide might take the following form: "Did you kill the person with (a) a
knife, (b) an axe, (c) a handgun, (d) a crowbar, or (e) a rifle?" The guilty suspect is assumed to display a
larger physiological response to the correct option than to the incorrect options. An innocent person,
conversely, who does not know the details of the crime, will show the same physiological response to all
options. Underlying the CIT is the principle that people will react more strongly to information they recognize
as distinctive or important than to unimportant information. Suspects who consistently respond to critical
items are assumed to have knowledge of the crime.
Critics of the CIT have warned that this test will work only if the suspect remembers the details of the crime
(Honts & Schweinle, 2009). Criminals may not remember specific details from their crimes or may have
memory interference from past crimes. Iacono and Patrick (1999) suggested two reasons for the lack of
widespread acceptance of the CIT. First, since polygraph examiners believe in the accuracy of the CQT,
they are not motivated to use the more difficult-to-construct CIT. Second, for law enforcement to use the
CIT, salient features of the crime must be known only to the perpetrator. If details of a crime appear in the
media, the crime-related details given cannot be used to construct a CIT.
Describe how event-related brain potentials (ERPs) have been used to detect deception.
Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) are a type of brain-based response that has been
investigated for detecting deception. ERPs are measured by placing electrodes on the scalp and by noting
changes in electrical patterns related to presentation of a stimulus. ERPs reflect underlying electrical activity
in the cerebral cortex. One type of ERP that has shown promise is known as the P300. This ERP occurs in
response to significant stimuli that occur infrequently. When using CIT procedures, guilty suspects should
respond to such crime-relevant events with a large P300 response, compared with noncrime-relevant
events. No difference in P300 responses to crime-relevant and irrelevant events should be observed in
innocent suspects. One of the advantages of ERPs is that they have been proposed as a measure resistant
to manipulation
(Farwell, 2012).
Give two explanations as to why people are poor at detecting lies.
People rely on cues that have no predictive validity such as gaze aversion and fidgeting.
- People have a truth-bias (tendency to judge more messages as truthful than deceptive).
According to the text, what are the two key components of malingering? List four reasons why an individual might be motivated to malinger.
Components of malingering:
a. Psychological or physical symptoms are clearly under voluntary control.
b. The production of symptoms is externally motivated.
- Possible reasons (external motivations):
a. To avoid punishment by pretending to be unfit to stand trial.
b. To avoid conscription to military.
c. To seek financial gain from disability claims, workers; compensation, etc.
d. To seek drugs/medications.
e. To be transferred to a psychiatric facility, to escape from prison, or to obtain a more lenient sentence.
Rogers (1990) describes three explanatory models of malingering. Name and define these three models. Which model has been supported by research?
a. Pathogenic model: This assumes that motivation for malingering is due to an underlying mental
disorder.
b. Criminological model: Malingering is closely tied with the conjunction of Antisocial Personality Disorder
(APD), aversive circumstances and uncooperativeness—i.e., malingering should be suspected if the
following are present: (1) APD, (2) forensic assessment, (3) lack of cooperation, (4) discrepancy between
subjective complaints and objective findings.
c. Adaptational model: Malingering is likely to occur in the following circumstances: (1) there is perceived
adversarial context, (2) personal stakes are very high, and (3) no other viable alternatives are perceived.
- According to forensic psychologists, the adaptational model has been most supported by research.
What are Countermeasures in reference to the use the Polygraph Exam and why is it ethically difficult for researchers to conduct studies on countermeasures in general? (Pg.100-102 & class notes)
These are used to beat the polygraph test. Studies are published and an individual al can get hold of those and try to go around the test.
Your text identifies several cues of malingered psychosis. Identify three cues associated with suspicious hallucinations and three cues associated with suspicious delusions.
a. Suspicious hallucinations:
- continuous rather than intermittent
- vague or inaudible
- inability to describe strategies to diminish voices
- claiming all commands are obeyed
- visual hallucinations in black and white
b. Suspicious delusions:
- abrupt onset or termination
- eagerness to discuss
- conduct inconsistent with delusions
- elaborate delusions lacking in paranoid, grandiose, or religious themes
Distinguish between a system variable and an estimator variable as related to eyewitness research. Provide one example of each.
(chapter 5)
system - factors controlled by the justice system that can be changed to increase
or decrease eyewitness accuracy (questioning procedure, identification lineup structure)
estimator - factors that are present at the time of the event that cannot be
changed and the justice system cannot control (ex. Time and attention paid for the
witness, lighting conditions, presence of a weapon, age of witness, emotional arousal of witness, mental state of the witness, race of the suspect
Compare and contrast the cognitive interview with the enhanced cognitive interview. What changes (enhancements) have been made to the enhanced cognitive interview?
Define the misinformation effect within the context of eyewitness research. In addition, fully describe the three most common explanations for this effect.
(Chapter 5)
This is a phenomenon in which a witness who is presented with inaccurate information after an event will incorporate that misinformation in a subsequent recall task.
1) With changes in the methodology, some studies have found support for guessing or experimenter pleasing. Some witnesses will guess at the answer they thing the experimenter wants, resulting in the misinformation effect. (Misinformation Acceptance Hypothesis)
2) Some studies have found that witnesses can recall both memories- the original and the inaccurate. However, witnesses cannot remember where the memory came from. When asked to recall what was seen, the witness chooses the wrong memory. (Source Misattribution Hypothesis)
3) Original memory being replaced/altered with the new incorrect memory. (Memory Impairment Hypothesis)
State two difficulties with the use of hypnosis in the eyewitness context.
(Chapter 5)
This is a phenomenon in which a witness who is presented with inaccurate information after an event will incorporate that misinformation in a subsequent recall task.
1) With changes in the methodology, some studies have found support for guessing or experimenter pleasing. Some witnesses will guess at the answer they thing the experimenter wants, resulting in the misinformation effect. (Misinformation Acceptance Hypothesis)
2) Some studies have found that witnesses can recall both memories- the original and the inaccurate. However, witnesses cannot remember where the memory came from. When asked to recall what was seen, the witness chooses the wrong memory. (Source Misattribution Hypothesis)
- List the correct decisions associated with both target-present and target-absent lineups. Also, list the potential errors that can be made in the lineup identification process and whether these errors are known or unknown to the police.
(Chapter 5)
The correct decision of a target-present lineup is correct identification, and the correct decision for a target-absent lineup would be correct rejection. The potential errors that can be made in the lineup identification process are foil identification, false rejections, and false identifications. Foil identification is an error known to the police, and a false rejection and false identification are unknown errors.
List the five reasons why photo lineups are more common than live lineups.
(Chapter 5)
1) the person who conducts the line up or photo array should not know which person is the suspect.
2) Eyewitnesses should be told explicitly that the criminal may not be present in the lineup and, therefore, witnesses should not feel that they must make an identification.
3) The suspect should not stand out in the lineup as being different from the foils based on the eyewitness’ previous description of the criminal or based on the other factors that would draw extra attention to the suspect.
4) A clear statement should be taken from the witness at the time of the identification and prior to any feedback as to his/her confidence that the identified person is the actual criminal.
5) The entire lineup procedure should be recorded on video to ensure accuracy in the process. The lineup and the interaction between officer and the witness should be on video so that lawyers, the judge, and the jurors can later assess for themselves whether the reports of the procedure made by police are accurate.
Describe the three major types of biases that have been found to increase false positives in lineup identifications.
(Chapter 5)
foil bias
clothing bias
instruction bias
